Culture

What is your elevator pitch for what a naturopath does?A naturopathic doctor is a primary care provider, just like a medical doctor. We assess patients through history taking, physical exam and diagnostic tests. The biggest difference, though, is in the treatment. Naturopathic doctors focus on a more natural approach to treatment, using vitamins, herbs, physical medicine, lifestyle counseling, and will only recommend prescription medicine when absolutely necessary. What is the most common misconception about naturopathy?

Why did you specialize in breast cancer?People in medicine often develop a passion to tackle what they fear or have strong feelings about. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was a first-year medical student. I went with her to all her appointments and read everything I could about the disease. I then had three cousins diagnosed before 50, and one died in her 40s. I really tried to choose a more balanced career path, but I kept coming back to oncology as something I felt I had to pursue.

In March, the United Network for Organ Sharing authorized the UW Medical Center to be one of 20 centers nationwide for performing face, hand, arm and abdominal wall transplants. Dr. Peter Neligan, who will be part of the team on these surgeries, spearheaded the effort to establish the University of Washington as a center for these rare and complex surgeries, known as vascularized composite allograft, or VCA, transplants. The first surgeries could begin by next spring. Can you explain how VCA transplants are different from traditional single-organ transplants?

Infectious diseases grabbed headlines last winter, from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa to the spike in measles in the United States. What do you think was the biggest story during the past year? Both diseases also show global problems we have with infrastructure, access to fresh and clean water, limited resources in terms of antimicrobial agents and the complacency/resistance towards vaccine-preventable diseases.Why did you decide to specialize in infectious disease?

What is your favorite part of your workday?At the start of every team meeting, we talk about patients whom we’ve cared for who died in the previous week. We reserve this time to talk about that person as a whole person, not just as a patient. And this is the time that I hear stories not just about the patients who we care for, but also about the incredible members of the team who care for them. I never cease to be amazed by the skill, compassion, inventiveness and abiding good humor of my teammates who work in hospice and palliative medicine.

In all the years Seattle magazine has been asking local doctors to nominate health care practitioners for our Top Doctors list, only one doctor has received top votes in his specialty every single year. It’s probably no surprise to his colleagues and patients that this man is Joseph Gruss, M.D., chief of Craniofacial, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Seattle Children’s Hospital.